Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Fraxinus velutina (Velvet Ash or Arizona Ash or Modesto Ash) is a species of Fraxinus native to southwestern North America, in the United States from southern California east to Texas, and in Mexico from northern Baja California east to Coahuila and Nuevo Len. It is a small deciduous tree growing to 10 meter tall, with a trunk up to 30 centimeter diameter. The bark is rough gray-brown and fissured, and the shoots are velvety-downy. The leaves are 10-25 centimeter long, pinnately compound with five or seven (occasionally three) leaflets 4 centimeter or more long, with an entire or finely serrated margin. The flowers are produced in small clusters in early spring; it is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate trees. The fruit is a samara 1.5-3 centimeter long, with an apical wing 4-8 millimeter broad.

Plant type

Tree

Size

30 - 40 ft Tall

Form

Upright

Growth rate

Moderate

Dormancy

Winter Deciduous

Calscape icon
Color

Yellow, Green

Flowering season

Spring

Special uses

Bank stabilization

Sun

Full Sun, Partial Shade

Water

Moderate

Soil drainage

Fast

Soil description

Prefers sandy or granular soil of desert riparian areas.

Propagation

For propagating by seed: 3 mos. stratification.

Sunset Zones

1, 2*, 3*, 4, 5, 6, 7*, 8*, 9*, 10*, 11*, 12, 14*, 15*, 16*, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Site type

Slopes and streambanks

Plant communities

Chaparral, Southern Oak Woodland, Yellow Pine Forest, Wetland-Riparian

Bats
Birds
Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

2 confirmed and 30 likely

Confirmed Likely

Fall Webworm

Hyphantria cunea

Great Ash Sphinx

Sphinx chersis

Fall Cankerworm Moth

Alsophila pometaria